


And At the End and the Beginning Was You

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Drama, Episode Tag, Episode: s07e21 Institutional Memory, F/M, Friendship, Post Bartlett Administration, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-12
Updated: 2008-12-12
Packaged: 2019-05-30 12:44:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15096986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: CJ and Danny embark on their journey together





	And At the End and the Beginning Was You

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

Leaving the White House gates, CJ Cregg took a last wistful look at  
the palace and prison she had the bitter-sweet opportunity of working  
in the last eight years. In many ways, it felt like the end of an  
incredible journey. She thought of everything they did to get Josiah  
Bartlet into this place, and everything they did to maintain his  
honour while he served in the hallowed halls. She had been through  
the most difficult experiences of her life along with the  
administration staff who had become like a second family. And while  
Josh, Donna, Sam and others were about to bulk Matthew Santos up to  
tackle the inevitable challenges which would unfold for him in the  
next four to eight years, she was finally leaving for good. Nothing  
had ever felt so chokingly sad, and yet so blissfully uplifting. She  
had made quite the reputation for herself. She was the first female  
Chief of Staff and she worked excessively for the man who she believed  
in the most. She had succeeded in affecting positive change for the  
country and even the world, so she felt like for the first time since  
high school that restless desire to help and change had been  
effectively satiated. Now the itching desire within her is to settle  
down into a more manageable routine where she could continue to  
champion the causes she believes in. More than anything, she cannot  
wait to return to California, and a certain someone who had been  
patiently biding his time to love her for eight years.

• *   
*

Stepping past the baggage claim area of LAX, CJ thought it felt like  
the beginning of an incredible journey. Standing a few feet away was  
the red-headed reporter which had given her so much grief for the last  
decade, and was certain to give her much more pleasure for the decades  
to come. 

Danny couldn't remain routed to his spot. He rushes up to CJ and  
immediately envelopes in his arms.

"I told you I could meet you at the place…" CJ protests after  
they share a quick kiss. 

"And deny me the opportunity to see you without your entourage  
for the first time? Not a chance. I intend to completely take  
advantage of our new freedom and privacy. How was the flight?" Danny  
takes CJ's luggage from her and steers her towards the doors to the  
parking lot. 

"Intoxicating. I'm grateful to be back on solid ground. That was  
no Air Force One," CJ chuckles a little awkwardly. She can't believe  
she's actually here, that they're actually about to start their lives  
together. 

"I got something that will cheer you up: I brought your  
Mustang." Danny reaches for CJ's free hand as they make their way to  
the car.

"Oh my baby!" CJ cries in glee. 

Danny's brows rise in surprise. "All right, apparently I'm not  
done competing for your affection. First the job and now the car."

But CJ stops dead in her tracks, not wanting to have offended  
Danny. " Danny…I…"

Danny's lips turn into a smile that indicates he was only  
joking. "I'm kidding. Take a deep breath. We're gonna be fine."

Suddenly CJ gets a sense that it might have been easier to stay  
in D.C. than come to Santa Monica to be with DC. " Danny, I'm really  
truly terrible at this. I'm not entirely sure why I ended up flying  
out here to meet you."

"Once I show you where we're living, you won't have any doubts.   
We're just gonna take it one step at a time. I love you and we're  
going to make this work." Danny pauses to kiss CJ tenderly on the  
lips, needing to encourage her like a small child.

CJ's lip turn upwards in a half-smile. This is what she wants,  
and she realizes it won't always be easy. But they've come so far.  
They talked about their future, they figured out that they wanted to  
spend their lives together and they had admitted how deep their love  
felt. "Okay, Fish-Boy, take me home."

• *   
*  
"Oh my God," CJ breathes out loud, evaluating the size of the  
ranch-style homes in the suburban neighbourhood Danny is driving them  
through. 

"What do ya think?" Danny inquires with a boyish grin. 

CJ gives her head a disbelieving shake. "The amount of sunlight  
shining down on us right now is more than the accumulation of sunlight  
I received in eight years in Washington." 

Danny laughs lightly, pulling the convertible into a slick  
driveway on the left side of the street.

CJ's eyes practically bulge out her eyes. "Danny, this is huge.  
What are we ever gonna do with all this space? This house must have  
cost millions…"

Danny puts a hand up to stop CJ's blabbering. " Shssh. Don't  
think about that. You're ruining the moment. We'll get a good  
mortgage. Now hold on a sec." Danny turns off the ignition and hops  
over the seat and runs to the other side of the car to open the  
passenger seat door for CJ.

Danny takes CJ's hand and walks her up the driveway, onto the  
lawn and finally up the steps of the wrap-around porch. "Now,  
remember, if you don't like it we're not committed yet. We have this  
cooling off period so we could always move. But at least give it a  
chance. I looked at a dozen houses and I really think this is for us.  
Keep in mind it probably looks bigger because we've been living in  
studio apartments for a long time. Okay, you ready?" He halts right  
outside the door, his hand hovering over the lock on the doorknob. 

CJ sucks in a large gulp of air before nodding soundly with a  
grin. "I'm ready." Instead of freaking out with a little panic attack,  
CJ is eagerly anticipating what their future looks like. 

"Welcome to what could be our home…" Danny pronounces as he  
opens the door and softly ushers CJ inside.

CJ is instantly warmed to the open, spacious environment. The  
foyer is large and expansive with a walk in closet. To the left is a  
open-concept living room and dining room. In front, they walk into a  
large kitchen with an island counter and all new appliances. 

"Now, we can pick out furniture and paint styles for these  
rooms. I know they look really bare right now. The kitchen is newly  
renovated with state -of -the -art appliances. I know you don't really  
care about kitchens that much but it could be nice for entertaining.  
We'll get a nice dining room set but for now we can just sit at the  
counter range." Danny walks around and points out the ammenities as he  
sees them. 

"The kitchen is great, Danny. Is that a pool out there?" CJ  
slides open the glass patio door in the kitchen that leads onto the  
back patio stones. "Oh my God! I'm so glad. I missed having a pool. " 

Danny chuckles as he follows CJ out onto their backyard that's  
complete with massive trees and lots of shrubbery and flowers. He has  
a modern barbeque on the patio which he intends to take full advantage  
of as soon as they get propane. " Honey, did you not look at the  
pictures I sent you?"

"Not really. I told myself I would trust you. I wanted this all  
to be a surprise, so that's why I sent you here early to do all the  
house scouting."CJ spins on her heels to face Danny and draw his face  
into a long kiss, letting her fingers absorb the soft skin around his  
beard.

Exhaling happily, Danny conjoins their foreheads. " Thank you.  
I'm glad you're trusting me. Why don't I show you the rest of the  
house?" He once again grabs her hand and directs her through the  
house. " Okay off of the living room is the guest suite. We've got a  
decently sized bedroom and full bath. I thought this would be good for  
when our families visit, or when you want to have friends from the  
East Coast over. The President already told me he'd love to come down  
here and see the place once we've got it up and running. I'm going to  
need to pick his brain for the biography anyway. And then if you cut  
across the foyer again, this is the den that comes off the foyer and  
is right next to the downstairs bath. Again, I know there's nothing in  
it but we can put some couches and a nice plasma T.V in here for all  
our relaxing enjoyment." 

"It's great, Danny. And maybe in a few years it would be a good  
place for…well, if we ever had…it'd make a nice place for Sunday  
morning cartoons." CJ swallows hard, trying not to tear up. Only a  
couple weeks ago she and Danny had realized that they wanted more than  
just the two of them in their house. After she suffered a miscarriage,  
they had decided that they would try for children and see if it was  
God's will for them to bring more lives into what will hopefully be a  
loving household. 

Danny wraps both arms tightly around CJ's midsection, kissing her  
temple. " I know. And we're gonna pray for that to happen. In the  
mean-time, we can watch 'Meet the Press' on Sunday mornings. Are you  
okay? "

CJ steps back and visibly composes herself. " Yeah, yeah. Why  
don't you show me the upstairs?"

"Okay. Come with me, my dear." Danny lays a hand across the  
small of CJ's back as they re-enter the foyer and ascend the stairs to  
the second floor. " Now, just keep in mind that we can make these  
rooms into anything we want. Here's the small bathroom. Then this room  
I figured we could turn into an office. It's big enough we could put  
two desks so we both could work from home when we want." 

CJ can imagine their desks on opposite sides of the room. She  
can see them sipping their morning coffee and typing away at their  
computers while they occasionally steal heated glances during breaks.  
" That's a great idea. My offices won't be ready for months and  
you're gonna need a nice place to write the President's biography. "

"Exactly. Shall we continue?" Danny leads CJ back into the hall  
and opens the next door quickly. " This we could turn into a spare  
bedroom. And then this room is…well…." Danny stops, his eyes lowering.  
He doesn't want to upset CJ any more. He realizes this is a difficult  
day for CJ and she's making such good progress. 

"Presumably the one next to ours…the one presumably we would  
turn into a nursery," CJ whispers, her head bowing as well. 

"We'll leave it alone for now," Danny tells her, using one arm  
to draw her into a hug. His thumbs trace the tear tracks running down  
her cheeks. 

"It's gonna taunt us, Danny," CJ states simply. 

Exhaling, Danny nods. He wishes they could have skipped the tour  
of this room. " I'm so sorry, darling." 

Sniffling, CJ raises her head to the roof in attempt to ward off  
the bad feelings. "Take me to our room. " She hadn't shared a room  
with someone since she lived with Ben in college. It's a strange  
thing to say that they are sharing a room, but at the same time she  
feels like it's well over-due. 

Danny smiles warmly, recaptures CJ's hand and pulls her gently  
toward their own room with the large French doors. "Okay, remember  
that it'll look a lot more full once we get some furniture in here." 

"Oh, Danny," CJ cries, taking in the magnificent room with its  
large picture window over-looking the back yard. The fireplace is the  
on the wall closest to the doorway and opposite where they would  
likely put the bed. Where their king-sized bed would be located, Danny  
had placed an old double mattress directly on the floor. Where they  
would have a night-stand is an overturned box with an alarm clock on  
top. Where their large dresser would be is a storage case that Danny  
is using to hold his underwear and socks. 

"I know it doesn't look good now, but we'll make it perfect. I  
saved you a few rows in the storage unit so you could put your  
underwear there. We've got a giant walk -in closet right here, so  
you'll have plenty of room for your insane amount of clothes." Danny  
opens the door and rests his hand on CJ's shoulder.

CJ chuckles cheerfully. " Oh, darling, I think this closet is the  
best thing about the house. Thank you so much. Now I really know you  
understand my needs." She is caught up in the humour of the moment and  
begins to express her gratitude in kisses.

"Mmm…Well, I'm glad you like it, but don't thank me fully until  
you see the tub….Eight jets-that's all the description you need."  
Danny flings open the en-suite bathroom door with gusto. 

CJ's hand fly up to her cheeks and she practically squeals in  
delight. " Oh my God! It's fantastic. The tub, the shower…Double  
sinks!!!! Oh, Danny. We are gonna be so happy here. Just me and you  
and this piece of art of a washroom." " She flings her arms around  
Danny, trying to take it all in.

" Four over-head cabinets and under the sink cupboards. If we  
don't want, our razors will never have to meet." Danny laughs out  
loud, taking so much pride and delight out of satisfying CJ with her  
dream house, and fantasy bathroom. 

Tipping her head, CJ smiles her signature sly smile. "Well, our  
razors might get lonely in cupboards by themselves, so we should  
arrange conjugal visits on occasion." 

Danny nods heartily. " I wholeheartedly concur. But for now, why  
don't I go get your bags out of the car and then we can get started on  
some dinner?"

" I knew it! You're trying to turn me into Doris Day!" CJ  
projects mirthfully. Her tone and smile tell him that she was only joking.

Danny makes his way back into the master-bedroom. "Ha! I'll bet  
Doris Day wouldn't consider fixing dinner to be ordering Chinese food.  
How does that sound?" 

"Perfect," CJ declares softly. " Everything….is…" She wraps both  
arms around Danny's necks and pulls him into kiss, sucking at his  
bottom lip. "...perfect."

Danny leans back to appraise CJ. "Then I guess we can keep the  
house?"

"Yes, just as soon as we figure out how to finance it." CJ  
doesn't want to ruin their home-coming, but she recognizes that they  
need to be practical.

"We'll figure it all out, darling," Danny assures her.

• *   
*

CJ flicks on the lamp which rests on the floor next to the  
mattress. " So we're really gonna sleep on your old ratty mattress?"

"Just until we order a bed set." Danny secures a fitted sheet  
around the mattress and proceeds to make the bed with a series of  
blankets.

"Okay, fine. But I'm gonna go grab the bottle of wine for us to  
finish. We need to toast this auspicious occasion. Just think, we  
don't have to be quiet because of the Secret Service anymore. We can  
scream as loud as we want." CJ's tone is blatantly teasing and sly. 

"Don't forget the cups for the wine!" Danny calls out the door, trying  
to fluff the only two pillows they have up to CJ's standard. He knows  
this isn't what she dreamed of, but he couldn't justify buying all new  
stuff without CJ's input, so he decided to wait to furnish the house  
until their moving vans came from Washington and they were able to  
decorate the home together. 

"Don't you mean the fine China?" CJ grins, returning with the  
bottle and two plastic cups. She slumps onto the finished bed, feeling  
like she was in her early twenties getting her first apartment. 

Danny's face deflates as he joins CJ on the bed. " I'm sorry,  
honey. I know this sucks. But it won't be forever. Here, you can take  
the fluffier pillow."

CJ laughs out loud at her nervous partner and hands him a glass  
of wine. She cups his cheek softly and kisses him to assuage his  
worrying. " This is perfect, Danny. Don't you see, this is a great way  
to start our lives over again? We're building this home together, this  
relationship together, this family together." 

Danny sighs in relief. " Okay, good. Well, in that case, close  
your eyes for a minute."

CJ rolls her eyes but reluctantly obliges. " Danny, you can  
take off your pants in front of me. It doesn't scare me anymore," she  
teases good-naturedly.

"Keep 'em closed," Danny instructs softly, shuffling over to the  
closet to retrieve a box. After a few seconds, CJ feels Danny's weight  
return to the mattress. " All, right, you can open your eyes now."

"Well, you know how much I enjoy your surprises, especially  
when…" CJ stops dead when the massive diamond sparkles from the  
lamp-light right into her eyes. "Oh…my…God."

Danny licks his lips before summoning the courage to go through  
with this. " You…you might know me as a great writer and orator. But  
just because I write and talk for a living, doesn't mean I have the  
easiest time expressing the depth of my feelings, especially my  
feelings for you. We have…we have been through the world together.  
We've known each other for almost a decade. We've weathered the worst  
storms-the President's MS, the campaigns, the shootings, the  
kidnapping…Leo's death…everything And through everything we only grew  
stronger, we only wanted to be together more. It took us so long to  
figure it all out, but we're finally ready to spend our lives  
together. I made a lot of mistakes in the past and I said and did  
things I shouldn't have done. And I neglected to do and say things I  
should have. But we've moved past all that. We're finally in love and  
there's nothing standing in our way now. It's just you and me, me and  
you. And I promise that for the rest of my life, I will do everything  
in my power to make you happy. I'll find us a house, I'll build us a  
house, I'll financially contribute to our life-style, I will treasure  
you forever, and I will give you a baby. I will do absolutely  
everything necessary for your completion as a person. I will respect  
you and honour you and always support you in your career. At the  
beginnings and ends I will always be there. Earlier I said we were  
going off a cliff together. So, Claudia Jean Cregg, will you hold my  
hand on the way down? Will you marry me?"

CJ's lips are trembling with the sobs that have creeped up on  
her, and while she is shocked at the chosen time and place of the  
proposal, she is completely sure about her response. " Yes…yes. Yes,  
Danny, I will. Oh, God, I will."

Danny feels as if a giant boulder has been lifted off his  
shoulders. He springs forward to capture CJ's lips in a passionate  
kiss. He pulls her forward by caressing her neck and entwines his free  
hand in one of hers." Thank you. I love you so much."

"I love you ,too," CJ declares confidently, tears of joy  
dripping down her cheeks. " But Danny…."

Danny is back to kissing her again. "Mmmm?"

"The ring! I want the ring," CJ giggles.

Danny fumbles with the box and brings the ring out of it and  
slides it onto her left ring finger. " Sorry. There we go. What do you  
think? Is it okay?"

"It's…perfect!" CJ proclaims between sobs. She inspects it  
carefully, not knowing how Danny could find everything she's ever wanted. 

Danny eagerly watches CJ gazing adoringly at the ring. "Harry  
Winston. Platinum with large diamond in the centre surrounded by two  
smaller diamonds. And this ain't no Blood Diamond. Completely pure and  
one of a kind. Kinda like you." 

"You sure about this?" CJ sniffs, looking up to lock their gazes.

"Definitely," Danny states without hesitation.

"Then we'll hold hands on the way down," CJ whispers before  
cupping both of Danny's cheeks and pulling him on top of her on the  
makeshift bed. 

The End


End file.
